IF YOU GO

First lady Anita Perry will visit Victoria on Tuesday afternoon to welcome the city to the Texas Main Street Program.

Perry is visiting as part of the Texas Historical Commission's Texas Main Street Program's annual First Lady's Tour.

Perry will give a keynote address during a public event scheduled from 2 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. on the courthouse steps, 115 N. Bridge St. Tuesday's program also includes members of Our Lady of Victory choir, Victoria school district's Junior ROTC and state historical commission officials. Victoria will be the 42nd city in Perry's tour.

In a news release from the Texas Historical Commission, Perry said she has a "special fondness" for the Main Street Program because it encourages community pride and appreciation for history.

Perry said she knows firsthand the value of a thriving downtown, having grown up in a small town.

Perry is expected to present an architectural rendering of the building at 120 Main St., owned by C.K. McCann, and drawn by the state architect, said Mike Sigg, Victoria's Main Street manager.

With the city council's recent approval of unspent hotel occupancy tax dollars from last year to the local Main Street Program, which total $35,659, Sigg hopes downtown building owners will be inspired by the presentation.